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Wednesday, 5 July 2017

July Pleasures . . .

July was always one of my favourite months of the year when I was growing up. First of all school was out for our summer holidays. No more pencils, no more books! My mom and my sister both had their birthdays so a double celebration. Canada/Independance days, and so much more. I thought it would be fun this morning to celebrate some of the things that we can do and should do in July!

Put your swimsuit on and run through the sprinkler. Oh how I wish I could! We used to love that when we were children and my children loved it too. There was nothing more fun on a hot, hot day than running through the sprinkler. We did not have a slip and slide or anything else like that, there were no water slide parks and the like. We had a good old fashioned lawn sprinkler, and that was that! I found a great tutorial on the Tesco site which shows you how to create a water park in your own garden, with a slip and slide, sprinkler, balloon splat and so much more! Fun, fun, fun!

I can remember taking my children to a big water park near Moncton in New Brunswick. It was not a cheap day, but it sure was fun. There was one slide called the Kamikaze. Oh boy but it was scary looking.

It had an almost perpendicular drop which sent you flying down at almost 60 mph, or so they claimed. It took a brave soul to try it out. My youngest daughter decided to do it with her friend the day we were there. I didn't want her to, but she was determined. I almost could not watch. The force of the drop caused all of the elastic in her swim suit to dissolve (it was an old suit) rendering her swim suit practically transparent. You never saw a man move so fast with a towel in your life as her dad did that day. Yikes!

Popsicles. Nothing tasted better. Sometimes my mom would make homemade ones. We liked to suck all the flavour out of them, which you could do, and would end up with just ice at the end, without much flavour left in it. Our milkman used to sell popsicles. You could buy one for 4 cents, so for two cents a piece we could have a popsicle to share with a friend. They broke in half really easily. The only argument being, who got the wrapper. You could save up the wrappers and send them away for prizes. I think my favourite popsicles were the tri colour ones where you got a taste of three different kinds and second place was the lemonade ones. You can get really fancy nowadays when making your own at home. Yogurt pops, all fruit pops, you name it.

Ohhh . . . I do miss fudgsicles and ice cream sandwiches. There is no such thing over here. Probably a good thing . . .

We could never afford a real holiday, and neither could my parents. As a child we had an orange Indian Tee Pee which my mom would put up for us. It kind of smelled like a combination of petrol and crayons, which must have been the water-proofing. In any case it was always fun to have it put up and do some back yard camping. This site has some great ideas for that. Frugal Mom. Actually I don't know why people spend big bucks to go to fancy camp grounds, when kids can have so much fun right in their own back yard. All you need is a tent, some sleeping bags, and a good BBQ or Fire Pit to toast some weenies and marshmallows around. The fun of is all is in sleeping outdoors.

My mom would never let us sleep out in our teepee. I am not sure why. One of my favourite Leave It To Beaver Shows is the one where Wally and Beaver are going to sleep out in their tent in the back yard. Of course it rained. But what would sleeping out be without a bit of rain???

Did you ever do this when you were a kid? I remember doing it in the Girl Guides when we went on a hike. Nothing on earth ever tasted as good as those hobo dinners. Britanny's Pantry has a great tutorial on them. Such a simple thing and they somehow taste delicious. A simple burger patty, some veg, some seasoning and some foil . . . oh and a fire. That's a big thing.

Oh boy . . . is there anything on earth that tastes better than a fire pit baked potato or a hot dog roasted on a stick? I think not! Don't forget the marshmallows. All blackened on the outsides and succulent on the insides. I am not sure what it is, perhaps our brain invoking primal memories of our hunting/gathering ancestry . . . but having a baked potato wrapped in foil and baked in the coals of a fire is heaven on earth, as is the hotdog and the marshmallows. I used to love when the marshmallows actually caught on fire and you had to blow them out. They were so good. And then you come home and you smell like . . . woodsmoke. Such a great smell!

firefly firefly

wow how you glow!

under your body

you light up below!

firefly firefly

wow how you shine!

at night in the dark

I can see you just fine!

~ Meish Goldish

Catching fireflies! Oh what fun to go out at dusk with a jar and catch fireflies!! I think you need water nearby to have fireflies, but I am not 100% certain. I only know that when I was a child the only place I ever saw fireflies was when we were near the river, and when my kids were growing up it was when we had the house near the marsh. They were magical . . . these little bugs, also called lightening bugs . . . with their lit up bottoms doing their mating dance.

I found an article on 6 ways to attract fireflies to your backyard from Rodale Organic Life. Apparently fireflies are under threat, due to the use of pesticides, habitat loss, light pollution, etc. Any little thing we can do to help keep them going is a good thing! Saving the experience of firefly catching for our children. We never kept them when I was a child. We always let them go, but it was fun to catch them and watch them for a while . . . the thought of a world devoid of fireflies just doesn't bear thinking about!

A trip to the seaside, be it a beach or the lake. Its always fun. Sitting on the sand, in a chair or on a towel and listening to the gulls . . . smelling the air. Seaside air is something special. It smells faintly of fish and seaweed . . . not in a bad way. Its a clean smell. The sound of the water. Of course here in the UK a trip to the seaside comes with all sorts of pleasures . . .

Punch and Judy shows . . .

Mr Whippy with a Flake . . .

Fish and Chips . . .

Donkey Rides . . .

Building Sandcastles . . .

Paddling in the waves . . .

Amusements on the pier . . .

Rock Candy & Candy Floss . . .

There is no end to seaside pleasures. Just be sure to go early in the day so you can find a place to park, and be prepared to walk your socks off! Also don't forget the suncream!

One of my favourite things to do in July is to go on picnics. And it doesn't have to be an elaborate one. It can just be a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and bottled water. Eating out of doors with the air on your face and the sun on your head. What fun, what fun . . . there is nothing like it. Its a simple pleasure. We never went on many picnics when I was a child. I don't think my mother liked being outdoors much. She was a bug-aphobic. Still is. I have always loved picnics. I think that today if the weather turns out to be nice, I might drag Todd on a picnic. We will see how it goes.

So as you can see, July has lots of lovelies to enjoy, and none of them cost a bomb. Oh, I forgot one . . .

4 comments:

Good morning Marie. I still don't have internet and have spent a number of hours at the Telstra shop today. All sorts of things have been dropped off our order and my details totally changed!

Today I bought two 250g punnets of strawberries. They are local and were on sale at $2.20 for 250g. The were the best strawberries I have had in the longest time. Other berries are bought frozen as the cost is prohibitive. Mum and I ate one punnet for dinner.

We were fortunate growing up as I had a great aunt who generously shared her beach home with us. I loved it until I was 15 or so and then I found it quite boring. We did the same things every time. Dad's sister would always take the long summer holiday and we had the coolest time of the year. Also I don't know of an Aussie beach that has the English seaside treats.

We also had a number of picnics because dad had a work car as he worked many weekends. But if he was not working it was a there and back again drive.

A trip to the beach is one of my favorite things and one is long overdue here. There is nothing like the smell! July is a wonderful month to enjoy. The farmers will soon have fresh fruits and veggies on the roadside stands here so a trip in the country is order too. I don't garden but it only takes a short drive from here to one of the stands and I will definitely be headed out. I saw an add that fresh corn on the cob would be available on Saturday!

You must be feeling very frustrated Pam! I know I would be. Oh, I so love fresh strawberries. I could eat them til they are coming out my ears! Hope you get your internet sorted soon! Love and hugs and blessings! xoxo

Oh boy Pam, fresh corn. We do not get good corn over here. Its like what we called cow corn back home and they make it worse by peeling it for you so it degenerates even more. Frozen corn is so much better! What I wouldn't give for a nice ear of sweet corn. we did try to grown our own one year, but got about 4 small ears, about 3 inches long. Clearly this is not a good corn growing country! Enjoy your trip into the countryside! xoxo

Summers now are gardening gardening..I miss the seaside vacations w/ the girls.. never fancy places..but the beahes were for everyone..The sea now to me means contemplation and peace..lol so different!I love picnics..no one to picnic with anymore..I had 2 friends I did picnic with but they are no more..I pinicked w/ the Littles when they had no school etc..so all those picnics ..so many yrs ago..last picninc w/ J must be 15 yrs ago..